What are your thoughts on your name as a parent? Current parents, future parents, and non-parents are all welcome to answer By parent name, I’m referring to what your kids call you (mom/dad/etc.). I know some people are content with whatever their kids call them, and most aren’t really deliberate in selecting a name, but I imagine other berries might be more particular than the average person.
What name do you like for yourself? Is your parent name important to you?
Me personally
I personally chose to go by mama (or mom), and I really do not like the name mommy for myself at all. I’ve noticed a lot of other younger/new moms also choosing to go by mama as well (when mommy was the previous standard for forever where I live). I just love the sound of mama, and it evokes certain images and emotions that I adore. I deliberately chose it before my daughter was born, and I deliberately chose not to go by mommy. I can’t describe how it’s my name, but it just is
[name_f]My[/name_f] parent name of mama is part of my identity as a mother, so I have a hard time when other people call me something different (e.g. saying to my daughter, “Go see your mommy!” or “Mommy is right over there!”). It really, really bothers me because I feel like that’s not my name, similarly to being called the wrong first name. [name_f]My[/name_f] mom finally got the hang of it after I corrected her a few times, but my MIL has not figured out to call me mama to my daughter instead of mommy, despite me correcting her every so often. It’s been hard because now my daughter has recently started using “mommy” as well, and I think it’s because she hears my MIL use it about me so much.
We kind of let our kids choose whatever name feels most natural for them. I taught both my girls [name_f]Mama[/name_f] & Dada and thats what we refer to ourselves as. It wasnt necessarily a conscious decision its just what felt most natural. And mama & dada is what our oldest calls us, however my youngest started calling us Mommy and Daddy even though nobody else refers to us as that, it’s what she’s preferred.
When our son was a baby, we did the whole “say mama/dada” thing. It just seems to be…natural? I guess…how babies learn to talk.
Anyway, he calls us Mommy and Daddy now. I miss being [name_f]Mama[/name_f] but I love hearing his little voice saying Mommy/Daddy. He did call me Mom once and I about cried because it felt like he suddenly aged a number of years, lol. I know he’ll change our names again when he does get older and I just view that as a natural part of growing up…so I’m enjoying my time as Mommy now.
The only thing I didn’t want to be was Mother. That feels very detached and cold to me (no disrespect meant towards those who go by that name).
I haven’t thought much about it! I think I’d be a Mommy or a [name_f]Mama[/name_f] interchangeably. I grew up with a Mama/Marmee (I still call her both), so those are what feel natural and sweet to me. But, I babysit girls with a Mommy and I love hearing them call her that, too!
I hope my kids will call my mom Marmee, like I call her. Maybe that can be my motherhood name or my Grammy-name, too… dreaming!
This has been tough for me as an American living in [name_u]Ireland[/name_u] who will have [name_u]Irish[/name_u] children, I don’t like the common names for mom over here. Usually children call their moms Mammy which has some brutal racial connotations in the States and teenagers and adults call them Mam which has always sounded a bit to much like Ma’am to me.
That being said I don’t want to overly Americanise them and I certainly don’t want to fall back on the [name_f]British[/name_f] Mum/Mummy. That’s completely off the table. So my thought right know is to go by [name_f]Mama[/name_f] when their young and Ma when their older.
Our kids are little so we still do Mama/Dada. I hadn’t given it much thought but I’d like to stay [name_f]Mama[/name_f] for a while. Is that still appropriate with older kids? I hope it is, but I feel like Dada isn’t and will have to get shortened to Dad at some point.
Like @namergirl3 my daughter called me Mom once out of the blue and it definitely felt like she’d suddenly grown up
[name_f]My[/name_f] children call me Mamma. It’s the Icelandic word for mom. They call my husband Tatti (except for [name_m]Hjörtur[/name_m], who calls my husband - his stepdad - by his first name).
For me it was always clear that I would be Mamma, and I never really thought about it beforehand. I speak Icelandic to my children, so it seemed natural that they’d use the Icelandic term for me.
For my husband it was more of a struggle. He called his own father [name_u]Abba[/name_u] and he didn’t want to be called that, because of some difficult associations. The [name_m]German[/name_m] / Russian [name_f]Papa[/name_f] didn’t sound right to him. So in the end he went with the Yiddish Tatti.
No babies in our household yet, but we have talked about this before.
I would like to be called Mumma, and then probably Ma when they’re older (I call my mum Ma now, although she was Mum when I was younger).
Hubby has said he doesn’t like [name_f]Papa[/name_f], etc, and I expect he would choose to go by Dad / Daddy. I think it would be sweet for him to use [name_f]Baba[/name_f] as a nod to his heritage, but that’s up to him.
[name_f]English[/name_f] berry here so it’s 100% going to be mum and dad I affectionately use ma and pa for my parents now I’m an adult but that’s as wild as it gets around here!
I would love to be [name_f]Mama[/name_f]! [name_f]My[/name_f] parents were always Mom and Dad, but in the last three-ish years I started saying [name_f]Mama[/name_f] instead of Mom. I have no idea where this change came from, but we both really like it. In [name_u]Texas[/name_u] it sounds very sweet and southern.
I think I have honestly at different times referred to myself as all three (mom, mama and mommy). In the end I see it like nicknames… we can go in with our preferences but our children and the surrounding peers/ people will likely influence said children so I can’t get to hung up on what my children draw to and and use. I think the only one that would possibly feel awkward to use / hear be used would be “Mother”. Sometimes when I fill out the medical records and it asks my relationship to my kids and I put Mother that’s odd.
As my kids have learned “Dad” they’ve picked up a lot of varying names that we’ve used as they’ve used (Addy, [name_m]Ah[/name_m], Dough Dah, etc). I think again like nicknames we just go with it although Father, Pop and [name_f]Papa[/name_f] would be odd—- my stepdad is their [name_f]Papa[/name_f] so while I know some use Pop and [name_f]Papa[/name_f] to refer to a father relationship for us it’s a grandfather connection so again likely wouldn’t fly in the long run.
my mom has always been “mommy”’ to my brother and i. i think i would like to be mama or mommy. i call my mom “mama” a lot … my nana was a “mommie” in reference to her three children, although they mostly called her “mom” or “ma”. i think, with my children, i’d want to be a “mama” more than a “mommy”, because that feels like my mom, not me. her personality is more of a “mommy” whereas mine is more of a “mama”, i suppose!
I didn’ really have an opinion. We were mama and dada when they were little, now we’re mummy and daddy… except when the 7yo calls us “bruh.” I assume it will naturally progress to mum and dad as they get older.
[name_f]My[/name_f] 21 month old calls me “mum-mum” which I find adorable. She hears all versions around her, I refer to myself as mama, dh refers to me as mum or mummy and my in laws say mummy "as in “mummy’s here!” or “say bye to mummy!” so she’s obviously just a rebel and has decided on her own name for me she calls dh “daddy” exclusively.
[name_f]My[/name_f] toddler calls us mama and dada and although we started off referring to ourselves as mummy and daddy, now we use both interchangeably. Same with grandparents, we alternate with the names they chose and the versions he currently says.
I started out as Mama because that’s what I call my mom. My husband didn’t feel like a Papa, so he’s Daddy (also what I call my dad, even as an adult.) The kids call us Mama and Daddy or Mom and Dad; also Mama Mia (came from listening to “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Daddy-man. Our 2-year-old saying “Daddy-man” is just
I don’t really care which of those versions they use; the only thing I’ve shut down are the rhymes. Our 3-year-old is really into rhyming, and he’ll say something like “Pama Pia” and I’m like “Nope, not okay.”
ETA my brother has 1-year-old twins, and he thinks “Mama Mia” is hilarious. He’s joked he’s going to teach the twins to call their mom that
I’ve heard this same sentiment in people around me as well! I wonder where the association comes from, but I can totally see it. I feel like evil kids in movies call their mom “mother” But I can also see if the tone was changed to a really positive one, it could be sweet. My aunt-in-law’s daughter started calling her “mother” as a teenager, but more in an affectionate and trying-to-be-different way, not disrespectful thankfully. She’s now a young adult, and still uses it! Luckily her mom just thinks of it as silly/quirky
I definitely think so! At least that’s my hopeful long-term plan (unless they decide to use “Mom”). I think mama is growing widely in popularity, as most of my new-parent friends and relatives have chosen it. I first heard the wide use of mama while living in Texas, and I heard some older kids use it. I hope it works for older kids because I think it’s so cute like @may.rose said,
[name_u]Super[/name_u] sweet story from the store today! I was in self checkout with my daughter in the cart, and a older man overheard my daughter calling me “mama.” As we were leaving, he told me he taught his kids to call their mom “mama,” and now they’re in their 30’s and 40’s and they still do. He said it brought back sweet memories It was so heartwarming! And I made me feel more hopeful that “mama” can last a long time
By parent name, I’m referring to what your kids call you (mom/dad/etc.). I know some people are content with whatever their kids call them, and most aren’t really deliberate in selecting a name, but I imagine other berries might be more particular than the average person.
Maybe that can be my motherhood name or my Grammy-name, too… dreaming!
I affectionately use ma and pa for my parents now I’m an adult but that’s as wild as it gets around here!
I assume it will naturally progress to mum and dad as they get older.
she calls dh “daddy” exclusively.
and Daddy-man. Our 2-year-old saying “Daddy-man” is just 
thanks for sharing!